Free education for all
In the beginning
of the New Year getting new books in the new
class means a lot to the school children for
whom the distribution
of books has become a
festival of sorts
The education ministry once again has become successful in reaching textbooks to school children all over the country on the first day of the year. For the last seven years from 2009, the ministry has shown its ability to give free new books to the hands of the students on time and for this it certainly deserves praise. Just in the beginning of the New Year getting new books in the new class means more to the school kids for whom the distribution of books has become a festival of sorts. It is expected that the ministry would be sustainably able to keep up the practice.
But beyond this distribution of books, the countrys overall status of education is still not up to the mark. Because of poverty, hundreds and thousands of families, especially in the rural areas, could not send their children to schools that lack in quality teachers as well as adequate infrastructure. In many schools including those located in urban areas there is no science laboratory. However, even if some families become able to send their children to schools, dire economic straits force them to leave the place. As a result the country is lagging behind in achieving cent per cent literacy and the needed development.
Rate of literacy is vitally connected to development of a countrys human resources. In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka has achieved close to one hundred per cent literacy and in this country human development is greater than any other country in the region. Sri Lanka is followed by India whose rate of literacy is 72.1 per cent. Bangladeshs literacy rate is still, according to UNESCO, 61.5 per cent and it is lagging behind both these two countries in human resources development.
The government policy makers, therefore, should pay utmost attention to make its people literate and educate. The faster the pace here the faster would be the pace of development. That is why the government now must seriously think of declaring school education free as well as compulsory for all. For stopping dropout, various incentives---even in the form of cash---can be given to the poor students so that they can find spending time on school premises profitable.
Even some years ago, distributing free textbooks to all school students seemed a monumental and impossible task. It is still a gigantic task. But with the necessary will and commitment, this success has become possible. Now is the time to give full concentration to make education---school education at least---free and compulsory for all.
